Based on todayās presentations, what challenges come to mind in creating and assessing your Gen Ed-focused assignment/activity? (Feel free to add inspirations as well!)
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The challenge that keeps resurfacing for me is determining how (if) high-stakes the goals of my Gen Ed-focused assignments need to be. I often find myself grappling with questions like: Should the subject matter tie directly into a high-stakes component of the studentsā overall learning? Or is it okay for these assignments to sit in the low-to-mid stakes range, contributing to their growth in subtler ways?
Currently, due to the structure of the class, I canāt make significant changes to the syllabus. However, I do have flexibility in adjusting how some objectives are accomplished within that framework. While this allows me to integrate general education practices into smaller, scaffolded componentsāsuch as those leading up to the term project, which accounts for 25% of the gradeāI often question whether these adjustments carry enough weight to truly qualify as āgeneral education.ā
For example, the term project itself is relatively fixed, but I can introduce Gen Ed principles in the way students approach and complete its smaller components. This feels manageable, but Iām constantly balancing whatās inspiring versus whatās practical. Hospitality education, by nature, is highly technical. Students must leave with a strong set of practical skills, and with limited class timeājust under 30 hours for the semester after accounting for midterms and finalsāour time to incorporate broader, exploratory learning is minimal.
That said, Iām deeply inspired by the creative approaches shared by other faculty. These conversations spark ideas and aspirations, but they also highlight the tension between innovation and the time constraints of our curriculum. Itās a constant balancing act: finding ways to integrate meaningful practices while ensuring students achieve the essential technical competencies theyāll need in their careers.
What Iāve come to recognize is that even within these constraints, Iām often already embedding Gen Ed practices into my teachingāeven when theyāre not explicitly labeled as such. Acknowledging that is both reassuring and motivating. Itās a reminder that while the challenge of reimagining assignments within a rigid framework is real, the work Iām already doing has value and aligns with larger educational goals.
Ultimately, the challenge is not a barrier but an opportunity to innovate within boundaries, finding creative ways to enhance my studentsā learning experience while staying true to the practical nature of hospitality education.
Today was a challenge as rubrics, assessments, and quantitative literacy are all new concepts to me. I didn’t realize until the second semester of teaching that the final project grading was on two different rubrics (sorry 1st class I taught!).
I’m teaching a course I’ve never taught before and still digesting the syllabus and how to reach the PLOs I was given. I struggle with creating activities to support the student’s learning, and I am inspired by the other assignment idea.
I don’t know yet what changes I’ll be making, but I hope I will figure it out very soon!
My challenge will be on how to use the grading rubric to assess students fairly. For Math, we assign points based on students’ written work by showing each step of solving problems. Now, my focus will be on oral communication. I need to think about what kind of assignment/activity to give to the class and using a rubric to give students points based on it.
Each day of presentations give me more ideas to think about and I really enjoyed taking in all these new information and learn how to apply some of them. In general, I have a hard time of making decisions when I have too many to choose from. I will need to go back to review and prioritize what I want my students to gain from the class while picking a focus from general education practices.
Alejandro,
You are correct, you do have to re-invent the wheel. You may recall that I said on day one that Gen Ed is already in our courses, we just need to identify the specifics. The activity/assignment you create may be small stakes in grading points, but the outcome profound. Patriciaās Brooklyn Bridge activity was not a high stakes assignment, but the result was amazing. The points may be low, but the impact high. Maybe that is how we should measure all our assignments. The āAhaā moment can be inside or outside the classroom. I do take your point about the discipline-specific learning objectives of the course, so scaffolding an assignment may also work for you. Being aware of and caring about the āBalancing Actā is the stuff that impactful teachers are made of, like the ones that Rebecca spoke about and that we each have in our memories and aspire to be.